$11,161

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Paper Clouds Apparel is a shirt company with a
conscience. We take artwork created by individuals with disabilities or other special needs and
put that art on Earth-friendly, super soft bamboo shirts.

For the past two years, we have teamed up with VALLEYLIFE located in Phoenix, Arizona. VALLEYLIFE is
the oldest habilitation center in Arizona, and helps over 450 individuals with special
needs valley-wide.

The ultimate goal at Paper Clouds Apparel
has always been to design shirts using art from special needs schools and organizations in all
50 states. This is where you can help!

Finnerd in "PCA"

Why Paper Clouds Apparel Needs YOUR Help

We have teamed up with Autism Speaks, the nation's largest autism science and advocacy organization, as well as a new group of schools serving individuals with special needs. We will be creating and selling shirts from a different school/organization every week, but must expand before we do so.

-- The hiring of graphic designers to turn artwork into vector form so screens can be made.

-- Ordering and printing of bamboo shirts, which are significantly more expensive than cotton.

We would love to raise enough to purchase our own screen printing press and screens to make future expansions easier. We set our goal at $8,000, but we hope to raise two, three, or maybe ten times that much! Simply put, the more we raise, the more schools we can collect art and generate shirts from.

Kimmie in "Elephant"

How Do Shirts Help Individuals with Special Needs?

When
a special needs individual creates a piece of artwork and discovers that we want to use it on a shirt, their face lights up. Seeing art
that they created end up on a shirt -- and finding out others want to buy
and wear something they designed -- brings their self confidence up to a new
level. Paper Clouds Apparel will also be hiring special needs individuals to help with the packaging of all our new shirts, thus
providing them with a steady paycheck while helping them develop a
heightened sense of pride and independence.

Ela in "Talking Bird"

How Can YOU Help?

FUND: Until now, Paper Clouds Apparel has been a
one man operation, paying for everything by many hours bartending,
operating heavy machinery, and any other odd job I could find to make a
buck. However, to take Paper Clouds Apparel to the next level, I need your help!

JOIN: Become our fan and "like" us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, subscribe to our blog, or email us at papercloudsapparel@gmail.com. We would love to hear from
you!

SPREAD THE WORD: Do you have a blog or know others who might be interested in helping Paper Clouds
Apparel? Spread the word in whatever way you can. Please contact us if you know of any schools or organizations that might be interested in working with us to have shirts made with their artwork.

None of this will be
possible without YOU !

Jondie in "Unicorn" and Katrina in "Elephant"

More About Our Earth-Friendly, Bamboo Shirts

Bamboo is one of the world's most sustainable resources. As the
fastest growing grass on Earth, bamboo roots continually sprout new
shoots without the need for fertilizers or harmful pesticides.

Although commercial cotton uses only 2.4% of the world's arable land, it uses 24% of the world's insecticide market and makes up 11%
of the sales of global pesticide chemicals in the form of fertilizers
and pesticides. In addition, creating a single cotton t-shirt requires 700
gallons of water.

The
production of bamboo clothing has a lower impact on the environment than
the conventional cotton farming methods. Creating a bamboo t-shirt requires 34 gallons of water, just 4.8% of what is required for cotton. Bamboo fabric also feels like a
cross between silk and cashmere; it is super soft to the skin. Bamboo fabric
offers comfort, is highly absorbent, hypoallergenic, has wicking
abilities, more breathable than cotton, and a natural sheen. Did we mention how comfortable it is? We LOVE bamboo!!

To further lower our carbon footprint, the next line will use plant and soy based screen printing chemical products, and water based inks.

Denise in "Lion's Roar"

Choosing Your Shirt

The shirts do run a little small. If in doubt, order a size larger.
However, if the shirt does not fit you just how you would like, Paper
Clouds Apparel will make sure you get a shirt that does fit you. We want
you to love your Paper Clouds Apparel shirt and wear it all the time!!

For this project, there will be two pieces of art selected each week: one men's and one women's design. For the men's shirts, the art will be on three different colored crew neck or v-neck bamboo shirts. Women can chose from a v-neck shirt, tank top, or a spaghetti strap camisole top, also made from bamboo.

Sizes Available:

MEN'S: Size S to XXL

WOMEN'S: Size XS to L

(We will be have larger women's sizes when funded.)

Janelle in "Winter Tree"

Thank You for Supporting Us!

We appreciate you taking the time to check out our Kickstarter campaign.
Hopefully you dig our shirts and choose to buy one or more to further our cause. And when
you do, wear your Paper Clouds Apparel shirt like a champ and take
some pictures to send us! We would love to post a picture of you wearing it on our blog, Facebook page, and the new website we will build from your funding.

So please, feel free to email us any shots of you rocking your PCA shirt, and thank you very much for your support! :)

Ryan in "Cactus"

FAQ

Have a question?
If the info above doesn't help, you can ask the project creator directly.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $250 or more
About $250

3 Paper Clouds Apparel shirts (or rain check for a future shirt), + a magnetic Paper Clouds Apparel bumper sticker, + a original piece of artwork created by a special needs individual attending a school we collect art from, + a personalized thank you letter from a special needs individual attending a school we collect art from, + Reward # 1 ($260 for international orders)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $1,500 or more
About $1,500

5 weeks worth of future Paper Clouds Apparel shirts (15 total), + the week that shirt is for sale you or a person of your choosing will be the featured model wearing the shirt on the website, + 2 pieces of original artwork created by a special needs individual attending a school we collect art from, + a personalized thank you letter from a special needs individual attending a school we collect art from, + the Twitter and Facebook shout out, and SILVER DONOR listing on our new website

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $2,000 or more
About $2,000

One Paper Clouds Apparel shirt from every week for a year (52 total shirts), you can change the size or style from week to week if desired, + 2 pieces of original artwork created by special needs individuals attending a school we collect art from, + a personalized thank you letter from a special needs individual attending a school we collect art from, + the Twitter and Facebook shout out, and GOLD DONOR listing on our new website

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $3,000 or more
About $3,000

Your choice of Reward #7 or # 8, plus a seat on our Board of Directors (currently 3) and a vote on which art is selected to be used on the male and female shirts for 52 weeks, plus PLATINUM DONOR listing on our new website